Per Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, the Pittsburgh Steelers have had conversations with pending unrestricted free agent Alejandro Villanueva but can’t agree on a number.
The market value for left tackles is considerably higher than the Steelers can afford, especially given their shaky salary cap situation. Spotrac’s calculated market value for Villanueva is three years, $49.66 million or $16.5 million salary.
Villanueva, who will be 33 in September, is one of the players many prognosticators see walking in free agency.
Pittsburgh signed the left tackle as an undrafted free agent in 2014. Since his second season, he’s appeared in or started in all 16 games.
Where Villanueva excels in pass-blocking, he lacks in run-blocking. That’s a concern for a team that needs to be vastly more stout in 2021. At a towering 6’9 and 320 pounds, quickness is not his strong suit.
Talks are just that — talks. My thought is that nothing will come of it, and Pittsburgh will be addressing left tackle via the 2021 NFL draft.
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